The Best Team Doesn’t Win This Match

UC Irvine struck first and Cal State Fullerton got even in the last two minutes.

But determining which team got the better of it depended on which camp you were in after the Big West Conference men’s soccer match ended in a 1-1 overtime draw Sunday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 523 at UC Irvine.

By far the best all-around play from Irvine (7-4-1, 0-0-1) came in the first half, when the Anteaters used their speed to strike from the wings at the Titan net time and again.

But Fullerton (7-4-1, 1-0-1) appeared to take control in the second half by pushing an extra halfback into the attacking area to create opportunities inside the penalty box.

Then both teams, weary at the end of a long afternoon, turned the twin 15-minute sudden-death overtime periods into a rugged and sloppy shoving match.

“We have days when we can’t complete a shot and this was one of them,” said Fullerton Coach Al Mistri, who felt his team was superior. “We gave them a goal we shouldn’t have. This is a game we should have won and we didn’t.”

Goalkeeper Sean Rockwell prevented the Titans from losing when he made a foot-save on a point-blank shot by Irvine’s Jon Spencer a minute into the first overtime period.

It made up for Rockwell’s gaffe in the 38th minute of regulation. Rockwell dived but was unable to get a gloved hand on a cross from the left wing by the Anteaters’ Lawrence Smalls. As the ball passed through the goal box, Spencer got just enough of it to deflect it off the right goal post and into the goal for a 1-0 lead.

Fullerton got the equalizer in the 89th minute when midfielder Ricky Melendez volleyed a loose ball from the penalty arc that midfielder Art Ramirez headed over Irvine goalkeeper Tyler Reid and into the net.

Anteater Coach George Kuntz felt that the 6-foot-1 Ramirez, who screened Reid’s view of the ball, pushed Reid as he made the header.

Kuntz also felt his team, playing without two starters due to injury and illness, was the more dominant.

“I think we had many more quality opportunities to win the game,” Kuntz said. “I’m very proud of this team and the way it played.”